Johannes Makgetla has done very well at the Comrades Marathon for someone who previously thought of the Ultimate Human Race as “torture” and had no intentions of ever running it.
“To be honest, Comrades was never in me,” says the Nedbank Running Club veteran who is part of Dave Adams’ famed Happy Bunch training group that has produced champions in the last three editions of the world famous ultra in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
“I used to say I will specialise in the 42(standard marathon) because I thought Comrades was too long and too hard. I used to see it as torture.”
Yet in a South Africa where you are not considered a ‘real runner’ until you’ve completed the about 90km trudge up and down between the KZN cities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, it was only a matter of time before Makgetla – then just a social runner with Run Walk For Life – climbed on the bandwagon.
What’s all the fuss about?
“Peer pressure made me go to run Comrades. I went there saying let me just go and experience this thing that everyone is making noise about,” he recalls.
The year was 2018 and the then 36-year-old ran a pretty decent time of 7:11:12. And the Comrades bug, as it usually does, bit big time.
“I was training all by myself and to run that well made me believe I was good because I got a silver medal at my first attempt.”
He ran another silver medal time (6:25:39) the following year and later the winner of that race Edward Mothibi ‘told me that I have talent and that I could run better with good coaching’.
He joined Mothibi’s training group under coach Adams but could not race Comrades for two years due to toe Covid-19 pandemic that ensured no competitive running was done in 2020 and 2021.
When the race returned in 2022, Makgetla struck gold. He was the first veteran (40-49 year olds) home with his 5:41:35 which earned him fifth place overall in the year when the Happy Bunch completed a clean sweep of the podium and had five runners in the top-10. Last year, he won gold again, finishing sixth in 5:23:33 and being runner up to Rufus Photo in the veteran category.
Makgetla says he should have won the category again: “Of course, I was very happy for Rufus, but he knows he did not show me dust last year. I went to the toilet and he was up front with the lead group. I felt strong that day and thought I would catch up but I did not.”
He still got gold - a second in the Down Run from Maritzburg to Durban. He is now on the hunt for a top ten finish in the Up Run and will then have his swansong next year.
“I really want to get gold for the Up Run because next year I am going to do my last Down Run and then I will stop racing Comrades. This thing is too strenuous. It takes a lot out of you. It is torture just like I used to think it was before I started doing it. You train for months on end. You know, I’ve been in camp for three months now. I’ve not seen my kids for three months. That’s too long. Also, I have other goals. I work in the mines, underground and I would like to improve my life. I want to go and study and I can’t do it if I am still racing Comrades.”
And so it will be with the objective of finishing in the top-10 when he lines up at the Durban City Hall on Sunday June 9, the desire to win the veteran’s category also a driving factor. But he admits it won’t come easy.
“The veterans’ category has a lot of great runners, and some of them like Bongmusa (Mthembu) and Gift (Kelehe) are former champions. I will fight for the veterans’ title but if I don’t win it, at least I must be in the top ten because I really want that gold.”
Get that and Makgetla will have enough weight behind him to be able to carry out his other post-Comrades plans.
“In terms of running, after I stop racing I want to help develop youngsters in cross-country,” he says.
And you can bet that even with his gold medals, he is likely to dissuade the youngsters from rushing into running the Ultimate Human Race.
“You cannot get used to Comrades. It tortures you – from training and even on the day of the race.”
Not that you will see him looking tortured on Sunday as he looks to get that Up Run gold medal.
Johannes Makgetla Comrades Marathon Record
Year – Time – Medal - Position
2018 - 07:11:12 - Silver - 320
2019 – 06:25:39 – Silver – 54
2022 – 05:41:35 – Gold – 5
2023 – 05:23:33 – Gold - 6